Another fast week as sped past us. The weather had been great this week with much warmer temps. The big news of the week was actually the news we’ve been waiting for all year – the government officially approved the COVID vaccine and will be rolling it out immediately. I assume Ann & I will be receiving it soon due to our jobs. There is finally light at the end of the tunnel! Matt and Taylor finally got sleep this week, as the puppy is now with her family. Matt spent a majority of his time at school in Zionsville, as he taught at the middle school then stayed late to coach the wrestling team. He finally caught up with Abby and got his Christmas tree and ornaments. Abby came home for a few days. She continues to be on e-learning but the campus is open so she continues to go back and forth. Unfortunately, she was delayed by a day to see Matt and we had plans pretty much the whole time she was home so we didn’t see as much of her as we had wished. She enjoyed her final week of the first semester. Her Finals Week will begin this coming Monday and then she’ll be home with us for several weeks. Luke had a big week. He had wrestling practices as well as his only home meet and a five-way dual meet. He was given awards and accolades this weekend at his football banquet which were very nice! We’re awfully proud of those kids!! Ann and I both had very busy weeks at work, helping it fly by. I lost a few pounds, doing better on my diet this week but fell well short of my exercise goal, only logging under eight miles of walking. We got to see Mom & Sandy, who are feeling better. Sandy returned to work. We talked to Dad B, who is still laying low with Lynn on the Jersey Shore. His back is better but not perfect yet. I was bummed that I did not get out and play any frisbee golf this week. I was bummed this week when it was announced that the Old Oaken Bucket was cancelled for the first time in a century. However, as of this writing, Ann tells me that they’re trying to get it worked out to be played this coming Friday! Even though IU is ranked and the Boiler suck…still – it’s IU/PU and you never know what’s going to happen! And just when we thought we were done dealing with road construction, the county got in one more project on 450N that we had to deal with during our daily commutes to work. Hello again and welcome to the latest installment of the Scheu Family Blog.
It was another cool start to the week as we get deeper and deeper into winter. To make sure we get our Good Driver Discount on old Barney, we decided to drive it to work this week. We both had fast days. My day absolutely flew by. In fact, I even missed lunch. When I finally realized what time it was, the clock already read 1:30. And to look at me, you can tell I don’t miss many meals! The afternoon was equally fast as I continued to wrap up our year-end projects with the surplus of funds that we had stashed away for an emergency that thankfully never came. We tried to get in a big project with the parking lot, but Milestone unfortunately shut down for the year. We were able to work something smaller out, but it’s details like this that I’ve had to deal with as we try to squeeze our vendors in, here at the twilight of 2020. As is the norm lately, I was late getting out of work and only managed about two and a half miles of walking. The northerly wind was whipping at my cheeks so I altered my route (where I could) to go east-west…which is difficult since most of the roads out there where I walk on the airport property are north-south ones. Outside of my cheeks, I kept pretty warm once I got going. It took me about ten minutes to acclimate to the cold but then it was fine. Luke had a good day at school and wrestling practice. We got his PSAT scores, which were not quite as good as we thought they should be for his intellect. He was a little bummed that his PS4 is stuck out at Oakley’s house, where they are battling the COVID. As he went through video game withdrawal, Ann made us a yummy dinner of cheesy broccoli and chicken fettuccine alfredo. We chilled out the rest of the night with the pooches, watching DVR’d shows and snuggling under blankets with our fur babies while she read and I culled pictures from my different sources for this week’s blog. Here are pictures from Luke’s wrestling meet last weekend in Mooresville.
Although I wouldn’t say Tuesday was necessarily warmer, at least it wasn’t below freezing. It was another busy day that flew by for Ann & I at work. I had a couple contractors working on-grounds today. I nearly missed lunch again. This time, my dietary gals saved lunch for me which was very nice. I got out of work late and only managed to walk about a half hour, logging about two and a half miles again. It was pretty chilly outside again. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be outside in the cold before heading for the comfy confines of the mall with the old folks. I assume it is still open despite all the COVID closures. When we got home, we found Lola looking out the window and realized we had forgotten to put the gate up. Although Molly had several accidents in the living room, we got lucky that Roomba hadn’t run over it today! Ann called her mom that evening but got the boot when Matthew called Gma for their daily talk (I guess we see where we rate?!). While they were talking, we learned that Chad’s father (David) had passed away. He had been sick for a few years now, so it may be a blessing that he is now at peace. He was always very kind to us and our kids through the years. Luke grudgingly got up late this morning for school. He had me start the Hot Rod Lincoln for him. It has a pretty steady leak of coolant. Instead of using his money for car repairs, he spent it on shoes and now expects Mommy and Daddy to fix it. We told him it doesn’t work like that. If it shouldn’t be driven then it needs to be parked and he can take the van or truck. We will help him, but he needs to take the initiative… He said practice sucked because they ran the entire time. Ann made Fireworks popcorn for dinner that night. We also got into the advent calendar cheese (actually, this was our second dip into it) which had some really good selections. While Ann read, I watched sports on the big screen, but it was not a good night for my teams. The Purdue basketball team was up by 20 in the ACC / Big Ten Challenge opening game, only to have Miami come back and win by 4. There were some very frustrating calls by the officials but the young Boilers couldn’t hit anything from behind the arc to save their lives. Then the Cowboys’ run defense forgot to show up in their game vs. Baltimore. Again, there were some questionable calls – on both sides – that again had me cussing at the TV as Dallas fell to 3-9 on the year…
Humpday was noticeably warmer. Sure, we still had to warm the van up before work, but I certainly didn’t after work as temps stretched all the way up into the mid-forties. It was another busy but fast day for me. Ann said her day went good as well with no major dramas from patients or staff. After visiting Matt last night and dropping off his Christmas stuff, Abby drove down to Columbus that afternoon to meet up with Ann for more holiday shopping and then stopped for a nice bite to eat at Amazing Joe’s. Although I got out late from work, I had no time constraints and was able to get in a 5K for the first time in a couple weeks. It was nice out there…until the sun went down and with it the temps fell rapidly as well. Luke had an easy day at school and then another hard wrestling practice. He lost a few more pounds and is looking good to make the 195 cut-off easily tomorrow. He saw me getting gas when he came through town and stopped to chat before heading home to shower and then going to get his hair cut (finally!). When he got back, he talked for a bit then headed on to bed, worn out from his grueling practice. I worked on pictures and edited the video, watching game film from his tourney last weekend. I did a little online Christmas shopping and then when the girls got home, Ann & I watched a couple shows and fell asleep in the living room with the dogs. Here are random pictures from our recent adventures.
We enjoyed the nicest day of the week on Thursday. It was yet another stupid busy day at work for me. Ann didn’t have much time to do a whole lot of sitting either. The boys went above and beyond at work for me so I treated them to lunch at Snappy Tomato that afternoon. I didn’t even get a chance to walk after work, forcing myself to leave to get Ann picked up on time. We came home long enough to get the dog messes cleaned up, let them run around outside and then drove to the high school for our home opening wrestling meet. Unfortunately, it was also our final one. Abby did her e-learning college classes from her bedroom with the dogs. She visited with Gma for a while before meeting us at the house and riding over the meet to see her baby brother. Luke had a fast day of school and thinks he may actually get straight A’s again this semester! He easily made weight and enjoyed his sandwich from Jimmy Johns. The school only allowed 20% capacity at the meet. Thankfully, the fieldhouse is enormous and we were able to socially distant from everyone. It was a double dual meet. First up, we faced Switzerland County. They barely even had a team…and one of them got injured, so only two wrestlers were able to compete for them. Luckily, Luke’s weight class was one of them. That 195 # match was a close one. Luke dominated the match, spending most of it on top of his man. In the end, he held on to win 4-3 and with all the forfeits, the team won easily. The match was marred by blood time-outs. Luke’s foe smacked him in the face and poked his eye, which only made Luke mad. Once he had him down, he landed a mean cross-face that made his nose bleed like a faucet. You get like five minutes and he very nearly exhausted every second. Coach Moore and his class broadcast the meet on the internet, which was cool. Unfortunately, they had some technical difficulties and only caught the final minute of his match. Abby Facetimed Matt and Gma/Gigi on her and Ann’s phones. After that, they held Senior Night for our two wrestles and manager. Next up was Jennings County. They are easily one of the best programs in this area of the state. They had a few kids out with the COVID, including their 195’er. So, Luke got to take a forfeit. That raised his record to 5-1 on the year. As for the team, we wrestled very well and, in the end,, pulled our the win, 43-27. It was the first time we’ve beaten them in over a decade! The team’s record sets at 4-2. I dropped off the girls at home and went out to the Sunken Boat Bar for a boys’ night out. We had everyone there except Pat. I got on a hot streak and came home with an extra $20 in my pocket! It was nice to spend time with my buddies, enjoying the great food and drinks as well as catching up with everyone…good for the soul; know what I mean?
Although I worked from home on Friday morning, I was still up at normal time to shower and get ready for my day. I worked out in the family room from my desk all day, working primarily on my monthly reports. Every hour or so, I would take a short break to either pay bills or do some last-minute online Christmas shopping. At one point, I had both my laptops and the home computer all going out on my desk. I knocked off at about 3 and was ready to go out and play a little frisbee golf. So I got everything put away…and I forgot what I was doing, ended up setting down and Ann & I watched a couple DVR’d programs on the big screen instead. About the time our second show ended, Kristie and Aaron came by to pick us up for a double date. We had dinner and drinks at 450 North. It was really busy so we had a short wait, but it was well worth it. We started off with a round of drinks and appetizers. We love their totchos and cheese curds! I started with their cider then moved on to a sour beer and finished with their Honey Kolsch. We had to get their pizzas for dinner. We couldn’t make up our mind, so we got half Mexican and half pulled pork – it was amaze-balls like always. We talked and laughed for quite a while before we finally packed it in and headed home. We got into our comfy clothes and sat down…and I promptly fell asleep within just a few minutes. Ugh…I’ve become my mother!! Ann woke me up because I was snoring so loud that the paint was peeling off the ceiling and sent me on to bed… We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.
Luke was up early and out the door before we even got a chance to remind him. In fact, when I got up to get him, he was just pulling away in the Hot Rod Lincoln. A couple hours later, we packed up Barney and headed up Hwy 3 to Rushville for their annual Super Five invitational. Luke easily made weight for 195 and was even captain for the team. First up, we faced Centerville. They would go on to be eventual champs that day. Luke looked pretty good and dominated the match, winning 8-2. The team came up short, losing 21-45. Next up, we faced the host Rushville. They did not have a guy for him, so he won by forfeit and the team won 46-33. Next up, we faced rival Batesville. Luke had a very tough match and although he was up 3-2 with 30 seconds left, he wound up losing 3-5 in a grueling match. The team won 46-33 and looked good in the process. After a short break and a bye in the 4th round, we faced Connersville in the fifth and final round. Luke had another tough match that went right down to the end. He was able to hold on this time and win 7-6. The team looked good and won as well, 39-18. Luke’s -record stands at 8-2 on the year and the team is now 7-3. When we got home, I dropped off Ann and went shopping at Walmart for our weekly supplies. I passed Luke on the way and he wound up turning around and met me out there to keep me company. When we got everything unloaded, we were all starving. We wanted Carriage on the Square after Aaron talked about it last night, but they were closed. Instead, we wound up getting Chilis. Luke picked it up for us and we ate in the living room, watching Elf on the big screen. We were sad that we could not make it to David Buchanan’s funeral that afternoon, as we were in Rushville obviously. We sent our condolences along with Mom & Sandy for his family, including his granddaughter Gracie. Luke went out with his buddies that night after the movie. While Ann read, I edited pictures for the blog until we fell asleep…well I think I fell asleep and then went on to bed which allowed her to then fall asleep and join me. ???? Here are pictures from recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
After going to bed early last night, I was up early when Lola got down off the couch and couldn’t get back up. I got up and started working on the blog while watching some DVR’d shows (Ancient Aliens…for the 3rd time – I fell asleep the previous two attempts, History’s Greatest Mysteries, SNL and the Purdue bball game vs ISU. Once Ann got up, we got to our weekly household chores. Luke got up on his own to get ready for work and actually got up early enough to come out and talk with us for a while. I can’t remember how we got on the topic, but we started talking about the 2011 tornadoes. We first brought up pictures from the blog and that led me to pull up videos. I was bummed to find that our vides from that time are no longer on the blog entries. There’s just blank spaces where there were once videos. The weird thing is that all of the vids are still up on YouTube but for whatever reason, you can’t see them on Word Press. I’ll have to go back at some point and redo all those entries, which will be quite the undertaking… Still, we had fun watching the two videos from that dreaded day…my, how the house, yard and neighborhood all changed that day. The kids were sooo little. Abby was so upset over the change that she was actually in tears. Little Lukey was upset as well. Matt’s voice hadn’t changed yet and was still singing soprano. Luke went to work at Hibbett’s that morning. I had just come in from checking fluids when Luke pulled in several hours early. Turns out, they were pretty dead and he got cut. Although he wants the $$, he really wanted to attend his ceremony that evening. We watched football and took naps all afternoon on a drab, drizzly day. That evening, we took Luke out to the high school for their belated, annual football awards ceremony. There was a small crowd on-hand this year due to COVID (several kids/families are currently quarantined). I’d say there were about 20-25 players in attendance. The coaches all got to address the kids and parents, one by one, and gave out their position awards. Luke was called up on stage with the other varsity lettermen. His first award was presented by the defensive coordinator (Jackson). He said some very nice things about Luke, praising him for his dedication towards making himself and his new defense better each week as he was awarded the Most Valuable Linebacker. His second award was presented by the head coach (Moore). Again, Coach had some very nice things to say about Luke, poking fun at him at the same time. We’ll have video of the ceremony next week. He was presented with an All-Conference award, along with five of his teammates. These awards are voted on by opposing coaches and Moore said they were very complimentary of Luke’s skills that he displayed this year. The future is bright for this rising star! ???? We stopped by to see Mom & Sandy afterward. They watched the ceremony via Zoom, which Coach Moore had shared for those unable to attend. They were thrilled like we were with Luke’s accomplishments this year. They gave us goodies to bring home, including cookies and buckeyes! Yum!! When we got home, Luke tried to go out with friends but wound up coming right back home and played PS4 with Oakley, who is still down with the ‘Rona. Ann read and napped in her chair while I worked on this week’s blog entry while watching the end of the NFL games on RedZone (there were three close ones), the 2nd half of the Colts game (taped while at the high school) and then SNF. It was a football kind of evening, you could say…
Next up is our Waybac section which features two collections again this week. The first is a batch from Mom O of her family. The second is more from the vast collection Dee gave us years ago. We lead off with several pictures of Ann’s Aunt Lindy Morrison in 1959; then 1960s for Moe Morrison, Pete & Walter Boyce; then Christmas time pic of the Morrisons in 1961; 1963 for Maude (on the ground) and Bulah; then in July 1973 at Edria’s in Greensburg we have Cecil Morrison, Ed Morrison, Red Morrison, M Morrison, Lillian Butler and Weldon Butler; and then Ann’s Uncle Red in the garden in ’78 and ’79 as well as his retirement party in Dec ’79; then we move on to Dee’s pix in 2004: April- Easter fun; May- Dixon Dance Revue; June- Luke’s bday; July- 4th of July activities, Fair Parade and fair night and Grace’s bday; August- new pups at Mom & Sandy’s house (Minnie & Charlie); September- Abby’s bday; October- Halloween; November- Mom O’s bday and Thanksgiving; December- Christmas Day and a great Christmas Eve (including a nice pic of Mom B).
We wrap up with our video segment which features one new home movie as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s episode of the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks for keeping up with us this time out and we’ll catch up with you again next time. Until then, have a good one and stay safe out there. We miss ya, Mom.
Later, Scheu